Nine laid-off Stroudsburg teachers to be offered jobs

The Stroudsburg Area School Board plans to offer jobs to nine teachers who were among the more than 50 employees the district laid off in 2012.

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By CHRISTINA TATU

poconorecord.com

By CHRISTINA TATU

Posted Jul. 16, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By CHRISTINA TATU
Posted Jul. 16, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

The Stroudsburg Area School Board plans to offer jobs to nine teachers who were among the more than 50 employees the district laid off in 2012.

Those hired back will fill existing positions vacated at the end of this past school year because of retirements, Superintendent John Toleno said.

By law, the district must offer such positions, when they become available, to employees who were laid off, Toleno said.

The board plans to vote on whether to rehire those employees for the 2014-15 school year at its meeting at 7 tonight in the high school cafeteria.

Some of those who will move into the vacated positions had been doing part-time work in the district since being laid off from their full-time positions in 2012, Toleno said.

The positions to be filled are: Full-time elementary school librarian; middle school family and consumer science teacher; junior high school math teacher; high school special education teacher; middle school English teacher; two health and physical education positions, one at the high school and one at the middle school, and two art teacher positions, one at the middle school and one for elementary.

As of Tuesday afternoon, it wasn't clear how much the teachers would be paid. Salaries were not posted on the meeting agenda. The positions being filled were already budgeted for, Toleno said.

In some instances, rehiring younger employees to fill the positions of those who retired could save the district money, since younger teachers start at a lower salary, Toleno said.

The district had faced a $10 million deficit going into 2012-13. Through the layoffs of more than 50 teachers, the elimination of driver's education and a fourth-year social studies requirement, the district was able to narrow that budget gap to $950,000.

The remaining gap was covered by a 1.27 mill tax increase, or an increase of about $34 per year for the average taxpayer.

"We feel like we still have a good, strong program to offer our students, and we are just going to keep monitoring the budget and program from here on," Toleno said Tuesday.

The district did not eliminate any programs as part of the 2014-15 school year, he noted. The school board did, however, narrowly approve the closing of Ramsey Elementary School. The board also voted to close Clearview Elementary in June 2015.

Toleno said the board had yet to decide what to do with Ramsey. An appraisal of the building is being conducted, Toleno said.